Cast truck-bolster.



PATENTED, SEPT; 18, 1906.

A. STUGKI.

' CAST TRUCK BOLSTER.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY17.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET -1'.

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WITNESSES.

INVENTOR. M

Z SHEETSSHEET 2- INVENTOR. M firzqc;

PATENTED SEPT. 18, 1905 A. STUGKI. CAST TRUCK BOLSTBR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY17,1906.

FIG. 7

.I I I.

III VIIQ FIG. 8

WiTNESSES.

ARNOLD STUCKI, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAST TRUCK-BOLSTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 18, 1906.

Applicatibn filed May 17,1906. Serial No. 317,272.

. scription thereof.

This invention relates to cast-steel bolsters, and especially to truck-bolsters.

The object is to provide a bolster of this character possessing maximum strength for the amount of material used, both againstvertical loads and end shocks, and which is so constructed that it is admirably suited to the pecularities of cast metal, and especially caststeel, wherein the shrinkage in cooling is very large and the danger of shrinkage-cracks en hanced.

The invention consists, generally stated, in a cast-metal bolster of box form in cross-section having top and bottom plates and side connecting-webs, the whole having no abrupt changes in contour or in the thickness of metal, so that in shrinking when cooling it can slip over the cores, and thus do away with the liability of producing shrinkage-cracks.

The invention also comprises such a bolstcr having its to plate wider at the central portion of the bolster than at the end, while the bottom plate is narrower in the center than at the end, and the side webs connecting the edges of these plates are inclined, so as to effectively take the resultant ofcombined vertical load and end shock.

The invention also comprises other features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a bolster embodying my invention, one end being broken away. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end view. Figs. 4 and 5 are sections, respec tively, on the lines 4 4 and 5 5, Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a bottom view. Fig. 7 is a plan view showing a modification. Fig. 8 is a side view of the same; and Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9, Fig. 7.

My improved bolster is formed of a single integral casting of box shape having a top plate 1, bottom plate 2, and side webs 3. The top plate tapers from its middle portion toward its ends, as shown, this being for the purpose of giving maximum strength against end shocks. The width of the bolster at the end is limited by the truck construction; but

at its middle portion it can be widened, so as to effectively take care of end shocks and at the same time form a better support for the center plate 5, which is shown as cast integral with the top plate, although it might,-if desired,-;.- be separate therefrom and secured thereto.

The bolster is ends, so as to get maximum strength against vertical loads. The bottom plate 2 at its end portions is of the same width as the end portions of the top plate 1 and gradually de? creases in width toward the center, so as to form a tapering central cross-section, as shown in Fig. 5, so that said central portion can pass down between the flanges of a channel spring-plank.

The side webs of the top and bottom plates. At t eir end portions these webs are vertical to form the columnwearing faces 7, and they pass with out contraction of the bolster, as is usually the case, and without any other abrupt change of form into the side portions 8, which gradually assume an inclined position, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 5. The side webs 3 therefore are substantially straight from end to end of the bolster; but more important is the fact that the end portions of the bolster are not connected to the body thereof by contracted necks, as is usually the case. Consequently the bolster is an open box-like shape having practically straight inner walls, so that in shrinking when cooling it can slip on the cores and not put the metal under strain and cause shrinkage-cracks, as is so likely to occur with cast-steel bolsters when so shaped as to change their contour suddenly.

The end of the bolster is practically square in cross-section, providing a horizontal bottom face 9 for the spring-seat, which is stiffened by transverse ribs 10. These ribs are of. sufficient depth to give very material stiffness, but do not interfere with the slipping of the bolster over the core when shrinking. Column-guides 12 are provided, as is usual, and side bearings 13 arealso provided, this being shown as integral with the top plate and cored from underneath, although it might, if desired, be cored from the top or be separate and secured to the bolster. To lighten the bolster, the end portion of the bottom plate is cut away, as at 15, as much as possible and still permit the seating of the spring, while the top plate is materially cut deeper at its middle than its 3connect the edge ortions A the center plate are the transverse strengthening-webs 20 and king-pin pocket 21.

" Figs. 7, 8, and 9 show a slight modification in which only a single column-guide on each side is employed and having slightly different shaped weight-reducing openings in the top and bottom plates, but differing principally in having portions of the side webs cut away, as at 23, to further lighten the bolster, so that the cross-section through the center of the bolster shows substantially channel-shaped top and bottom chord members. In this case the center-plate-bracing webs 20 are extended downwardly to meet the bottom plate 2, thus forming, in effect, a strut for the truss, as well as formin intermediate portions for the side webs, which in this case are open instead of solid, as in the other modifications. The bolster described has a wide top at the central portion to successfully take the end shocks and receive the center plate and is also deep at its central portion to carry the vertical loads; but its bottom, especially at the central portion, is narrower than the top, so as to enter the usual spring-plank of trucks. The side webs at the end portions of the bolster are vertical and then gradually assume an inclined position, forming practically a straight line from the top plate to the bottom late. The bolster, as a whole, has practically straight lines from end to end, and its interior is not interrupted by transverse partitions nor by abrupt changes in shape or contour. Consequently in shrinkin when cooling the box-like structure will sip over the cores, thus preventing putting the metal under strain and avoiding the formation of shrinka e-cracks, which is so liable to occur, especial y in cast-steel with its very large co efficient of contraction.

What I claim isl 1. A bolster comprisin a top plate, a bottom plate of the same width at its ends as the top plate and gradually tapering toward its middle, and side webs connecting the edges of the top and bottom plates and being 1nclined and substantially straight from top to bottom and from end to end.

2. A bolster comprising a top plate, a bot tom plate of the same width at its ends as the top plate and tapering gradually toward its middle, and continuous side webs uniting the edges of said top and bottom plates and being substantially straight from end to end.

3. A cast bolster of hollow box form having integral to bottom and sides, the top increasin in wi th and the bottom decreasing in widi from the end toward the middle, thereby producing a continuously gradually changing cross-section.

4. A cast car-bolster of hollow box form provided with middle, top and bottom plates and side webs, said top and bottom plates at their end portions being of the samewidth and at their central portions the center portion bottom plate being narrower than the tap plate, and said side webs connecting the e ges of the top and bottom plates and being vertical at the ends of the bolster and changing to an inclined position greatest at the middle of the bolster.

5. A cast bolster of hollow box form comprisin a top plate tapering from its center to its en s, a bottom plate of the same width at its ends as the top plate and narrower at its middle portion, and side webs uniting the edges of said top and bottom plates and being vertical at the end portions and inclined at the middle portion of the bolster and being substantially straight lengthwise of the bolster.

6. A cast having top and bottom plates and side webs, said bolster having end portions square in cross-section, and gradually changing to a cross-section tapering downwardly at its central portion, and said side webs uniting the edges of the top and bottom plates being substantially straight longitudinally, thereby avoiding abrupt changes of contour.

In testimony whereof I, the said ARNOLD STUoKr, have hereunto set my hand.

ARNOLD STUCKI.

Witnesses:

ROBERT C. TOTTEN, J. R. KELLER.

car-bolster of hollow box form 

